Life is freaking hard. There are moments when it becomes surreal–situations that seem stranger than fiction are suddenly staring us down. Or, we experience tremendous loss, heartache, and pain.

During intense moments of grief, when I’ve felt betrayed or shocked by life, I’ve asked myself these things:

• How can this person treat me this way?
• What is wrong with people?
• What’s the point of living? The pain is constant.
• Everything’s a struggle. Does it ever get easier?

The reality is that life is hard. But the other reality is that you don’t have to be. You’re allowed to cry. You’re allowed to feel. You’re okay to take some time, slow down, and understand the gravity of your pain.

We spend a lot of time about talking about moving through grief in order to heal, but not a lot of time talking about our concept of grief.

And that’s what the Three of Swords is largely about. It’s a card that asks us to heal our relationship to grief; to understand that’s not shameful to feel sorrow and suffering.

I’m not saying that it’s healthy to disappear to a hole of depression. Life is a balancing act of experiencing grief without becoming it. This concept was introduced to me in Laurie Anderson’s film Life as a Dog.

Do you want to do some grief healing? Here’s a spread I created for the Three of Swords. If you don’t read the cards, consider using the cards as journaling prompts.

Are you resonating with the Three of Swords and want to dig deeper? You can continue your journey here > > >